Category: TV Reviews

2012

Person of Interest One of the scariest aspects of today's society is just how little privacy we have. Thanks to facial recognition technology, GPS-enabled phones, secret internet tracking capabilites and databases that can crunch trillions of pieces of information, we live in a world where keeping off the grid is nearly impossible. As I write this, California has just become the third state to legalize cars that drive themselves. Clearly, we live in a world increasingly dominated by technology we can't control and barely understand.

That's why I was fascinated by "Person Of Interest" even before it premiered last season. The premise of the show is that there is a computer designed to track every piece of random information available, collate it and predict terrorist behavior before it happens. Michael Emerson plays Finch, the creator of the machine, and he became distressed as he learned the system was also capable of predicting when average citizens were going to be victims of violence.

Finch decides he wants to try and save some of those "unimportant" people and he recruits former CIA operative and assassin Reese (Jim Caviezel) to be his point man in the real world. Together, they can hopefully stop murders before they take place, at least in a few lucky instances.

But for all of the positives about the show, one struggle in season one was the challenge of moving the premise beyond its "murder-of-the-week" roots. A New York City crime boss was introduced and ultimately jailed after one story arc. There was a backstory involving Reese's former CIA employer trying to track him down as well as a substory centering on police corruption and two detectives recruited by Reese to help him out.

Season one ended with a cliffhanger as a woman originally identified as a potential victim (played by Amy Acker) turned out to be hacker who ultimately kidnaps Finch. It's not clear precisely what she wants from him or the machine, but she seems to know precisely what Finch and Reese have been doing. The episode ends with Reese looking into a surveillance camera on a street corner and asking the machine to help him find Finch.

Season two serves as both an introduction to the series and a bit of a reboot for the show's direction. There is a bit of a recap of the premise at the beginning, which is probably helpful. CBS has stubbornly kept "Person Of Interest" off of on-demand platforms and the various online servies, opting to air reruns through the summer. It's not clear how smart that idea will be in the long run, but it ensures that some people will be introduced to the series for the first time with the season two premiere.

If Reese was hoping for help from the machine, he is quickly disappointed. He does receive some information, but it's only the name of a new potential victim. Ken Leung guest stars as Leon Sung, an accountant targeted for murder. As it turns out, Sung is not exactly an innocent, since his life is in danger because he stole money from a criminal organization. Reese tries to solve the problem, while enlisting Detectives Carter (Taraji P. Henson) and Fusco (Kevin Chapman) in the search for Finch.

Their search is interspersed with several scenes with Root and Finch and flashbacks to the time when Finch was creating the machine. It's still not clear what Root wants, although she seems to have the working theory that the machine's time would be better served using it to identify and punish the evil as opposed to saving the innocent.

The episode also expands a bit on the mystery of where the machine is located and what it's being used for. There are hints of a conspiracy within the government and I suspect that's a storyline that will be fleshed out in the coming season.

The premiere ends with Reese refusing to help the machine unless it helps find Finch. Viewers still don't know what Root wants or whether Finch will agree to help her. But it all serves as a nice reboot of the show, hopefully in a direction that amps up the paranoia and betrayal.

I enjoyed watching "Person Of Interest" in season one and was impressed with the season two premiere. It's an ambitious premise and the failings of the show have more to do with finding the right tone of the show than anything else. It's not a great series, but it's moving in that direction. The ensemble is strong, the writing is sharp and if they can figure out a way to expand the scope of the show in a believable way, this could be a great season of television.